Business:

F-16 upgrade programs and F-35 deals in the region are expected to dominate the Singapore Airshow this week, as Lockheed Martin squares off with BAE Systems to be prime contractor for Singapore’s F-16 upgrade effort.

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, sees an expanding market for its cybersecurity products and services among companies in industries from energy to banking, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Marillyn Hewson said.

Financial approval for the U.K.’s main procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)/Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) is expected in the next three years, a government minister disclosed on 5 February.

A planned gap in the British Royal Navy’s air surveillance capability is being reduced by about 18 months after the Defence Ministry agreed to speed up a program to replace Sea King Mark 7 airborne early warning helicopters due to go out of service in 2016.

Boeing delivered the AEW&C, which is based on the 737-700 passenger jet, to Turkey’s Konya air base, where the early warning aircraft will be stationed. Two more aircraft are scheduled for delivery this year, with the fourth arriving in 2015. Australia and South Korea also operate AEW&C aircraft.

India’s Ministry of Defence is in advanced negotiations with the US government to allow the Raytheon/Lockheed Martin-designed Javelin anti-tank guided missile system to compete for an urgent Indian Army requirement.

“Four or five nations” are showing strong interest in the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and antisubmarine warfare aircraft, according to Chris Raymond, Boeing Defense, Space & Security vice president for business development and strategy.

Britain is still expected to order 14 F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin although the $5 billion deal may not be finalized until next month, several sources familiar with the matter said Feb. 11.

The Defense Department’s top acquisitions review panel in February 2004, assigned the Army to oversee the Joint Tactical Radio System. Exactly 10 years later, the department’s inspector general announced it would begin a comprehensive audit of the program, which remains bogged down in low-rate production.

Government investigators looking into the security clearance vetting system should focus on procedures and processes, not whether federal agencies ought to do all of the work in-house, the head of a service contractor trade group said Feb. 10.

Top U.S. arms maker Lockheed Martin Corp Feb. 11 said it had signed an agreement with a unit of Ocean Power Technologies Inc to harness the motion of ocean waves to generate electricity off the coast of Victoria, Australia.

Defense:

The U.S. Department of Defense expects to overcome one of the most significant technical obstacles to using unmanned aerial vehicles in national air space-development of reliable sense-and-avoid systems-over the next two to three years, according to a new report to Congress.

The Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian said the U.S. Navy needs more ships with the protection and firepower to survive an advanced adversary, not just “niche platforms,” weeks after she ordered cuts in the $34 billion Littoral Combat Ship program.

Veterans:

Veterans Benefits Administration officials on Monday announced the claims backlog — the number of cases pending for more than four months — rose by about 1,000 cases last week, to a total of just over 398,000.

Space:

The Mojave Desert is where the Right Stuff was born. It’s where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier with the X-1 rocket plane in 1947. It’s where other test pilots earned their astronaut wings in the X-15 during the 1960s.

Technology:

Officially, it’s called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit. Unofficially, it’s called the “Iron Man” suit. Regardless, Adm. William McRaven, the man in charge of U.S. Special Operations Command, expects America’s special operators to be outfitted with the advanced gear by 2018.

Pakistan on Feb. 10 signed deals to supply basic trainer aircraft to the Iraqi Air Force and help train its personnel, sparking hopes it can secure further deals as the Middle Eastern country tries to rebuild its air arm.

The Italian Navy has selected the CAMCOPTER S-100 unmanned air system to provide support for its fleet, making it the first European Navy that has S-100 in operational use, Schiebel announced in a Feb. 11 release.

Russian small-arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern is planning to double its annual production to 150,000 weapons per year and increase its revenues fourfold to 24 billion rubles (US $690 million) by 2020, said Alexei Krivoruchko, the company’s chief executive and co-owner.

Local military discounts

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